Silva vs. St. Pierre Would Be Great Theatre
After spending the week trashing Anderson Silva’s workmanlike performance against Thales Leites last Saturday at UFC 97, Dana White is cooling off the rhetoric and starting to sound like the marketing genius he is once again.
“I’m focused on Toronto now,” White said. “I want to do a big event in Toronto. And who knows? Like I said, I don’t like to look past guys. Everybody who fights in the UFC is tough. If Georges St. Pierre could get through Thiago Alves, who knows? Maybe we do Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre in Toronto.”
Now that would be a fight for the ages.
Both fighters are game, and St. Pierre would be sure to press the action in a way Leites just plain could not do.
The objective of the fight is to win – and White is more than willing to cut a fighter who fails to do it. You can’t have it both ways. It’s either win or go home or entertain and go home? That’s a nasty little dilemma for a fighter – and most of them, at least the smart ones – won’t swallow that unattractive bait.
Can you blame them?
Most of the message boards are filled this week with posts calling White out on his “they must entertain” mantra.
Kevin Iole, a Yahoo! Sports MMA writer whose work I generally enjoy, falls into the “having your cake and eating it too” camp, and that take is dodging the issue.
One of the greatest boxing trainers ever, Georgie Benton, is known for his saying, “Win this fight. Look good in the next one.” And that’s certainly what Silva did. He knew it made no sense to go to the ground with Leites and he didn’t. I applaud him for that. However, this is an entertainment business and you make people want to see you by engaging in exciting fights. I concede Leites made it difficult, but Silva had chances to make something happen and he didn’t. I personally didn’t think Leites deserved the title shot and told White so before the fight. However, it’s not like there are many middleweights, in the UFC or not, who could push Silva.”
Iole’s probably doing a little of the Devil’s Advocate schtick here, but the point is made clear by Benton. A great fighter wins – period. Looking good is a nice luxury and I’ll never fault a stylish fighter for exhibiting all his skills, but losing and looking good gets you a quick ticket to Palookaville – and there’s no train that runs round-trip from that destination.
That brings me back to the idea that if the UFC is a business – and don’t make the mistake of thinking that it isn’t – then the onus for delivering a palatable product to the fans rests with the matchmakers, not the fighters they control. For the promoters, pissing off the fans is an offense punishable by irrelevance.
For the fighter, losing is a crime for which there is no parole.
Say what you will about Don King. He was corrupt? You betcha. He was way, way over the top? Check. He only cared about lining his pockets and gave not one flying shit about fighters? Possibly. But he knew how to make a match.
Similar Posts:
- Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin at UFC 101
- White So Very Wrong About Silva Fight at UFC 97
- Anderson Silva Interview – UFC 97
- Fighter Profile – Thales Leites
- Underappreciated Genius at UFC 97
- From UFC.com – Silva Poised to Set Four Records
- Georges St. Pierre vs. Georges Laraque Grappling Match
- Griffin Talks About Fighting Silva
Loading ...
